


two of a kind

by Pandolphin



Category: American McGee's Alice
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-12-24
Updated: 2017-12-24
Packaged: 2019-02-19 18:12:52
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,433
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13129194
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Pandolphin/pseuds/Pandolphin
Summary: A commander does not blame or abandon his admiral, even in times of peace, and this was a reprieve only he could give her.





	two of a kind

**Author's Note:**

> hi kid, this is panda (Phantom R on the discord server) and I got you for your secret santa!! there were a lot of time constraints making this so i'm very sorry if you see it late, but i hope you like it and have a very happy holiday!

“I thought I might find you here.”

From his icy perch, Gryphon opened one eye. He knew she would be coming, one way or another, but to see her so soon was warming to an old soldier's heart; whether or not she could tell from where she stood, a tired smile spread underneath his beak. “Alice.”

The girl looked much better than she had before; she was still as pale and thin as she had always been, but Alice stood taller and prouder, and her eyes shone a spark of life once more. Perhaps it would have been too strong to say she was happier—because, for all intents and purposes, her circumstances were still somewhat worrisome—but she was calm. Peaceful. At ease with herself and her Wonderland.

Alice wore a dress of twinkling constellations and shimmering rose aurora. It sparkled in the sun that hadn't shone on Tundraful in ages. That, too, was thanks to her newfound nirvana, Gryphon thought.

“Pardon the intrusion.” She took a seat next to him, close, but not too close, as though there were some hesitance. “Trying to make my rounds as of late has become rather Herculean.”

“Understandably so. Wonderland's grown rather suddenly, and rather large, at that.”

“Not so large you can't find your way, I hope?” The smile in Alice's voice was clear as day. When was the last time he'd heard that, and known it was genuine? Far too long, it seemed. But mighty beasts were not without their pride, and Gryphon's feathers ruffled and puffed in showmanship.

“There's not a patch of sky my wings haven't yet touched, and no secrets it's left hidden to me. But that's not to say one has to traverse them constantly.” Gryphon shifted and sat upright. He hadn't been sleeping in the first place, but it was a rare chance where he was allowed a moment's rest. “With my particular lifestyle, a reprieve every now and then is just a necessity.”

“Ah... yes, I suppose it would be.” Her voice had gone somewhat soft, reflecting on his words. “I'm... glad you're doing well, Gryphon.”

The silence that followed was expected, even in its awkwardness, but that was the cost of maturing, Gryphon supposed. To reflect on one's own mistakes and shortcomings upon adulthood would always certainly result in a healthy amount of shame; childhood was just embarrassing. 

And yet, Alice was their Atlas, shouldering the weight of their world and her own sins far longer than she had ever even realized. And it was true, that her childhood ignorance had blinded her once and long before, but she knew what had happened, what she had done, and was making amends. She was not running from that truth anymore.

If she was still running, after all, Gryphon doubted she would have come here to see him. He only hoped she realized that. That it wasn't her fault.

“Mm—thank you, Alice.”

Another silence came, more bearable than the last, but longer. The only noise that came between the pair came from down below, on Tundraful's solid ground—the caucus race had always been a rather noisy affair, and with its participants now freed though perhaps a smidgen more fragile, it would be even noisier. 

Noisy, but welcome. Gryphon, ever the benevolent guardian, had been watching the participants race time and again since his return. Someone had to, with Dodo leading the imaginary charge, but in truth playing the part of an audience was something of a reward for him now. This was but a small glimpse of the peace they'd all fought so long and hard to achieve, a piece he'd died a hero's death for twice now, and the Jabberwock could strike him down again if he was not going to enjoy it.

“How did you know it was coming?”

Alice's voice came suddenly, sharp but not without an air of timidness, and when Gryphon looked to her, he found her gaze focused intently on the race below them. The stars on her dress flickered and dimmed. Even in a world of her own design, there was no hiding her feelings—though he doubted that was her intent to begin with.

How to best answer her, though...

“Alice. Lift your head up to the sky.”

Far from obedient, this girl, but still Alice complied, and followed Gryphon's eyes to the sky. Tundraful's own northern lights far exceeded the one fluttering on her dress, and even through its bright green hue, even with the sun high over then, the stars above them shone with vigor. 

“It was the stars, you see.”

“The stars?”

“I could see them. Or rather, I couldn't see them. The Train and its smog hadn't made its tracks here yet, but it was almost as though the stars were melting away.” Gryphon's voice was stern, as it had always been, speaking from a wisdom few among them had tapped into. “As I said, the sky has no secrets left for me. While the rest focused on rebuilding, I saw that more laid ahead of us yet.”

“When one knows how to see them, the universe shares its secrets easily.” Alice offered. “Perhaps too easily.”

“I'm inclined to agree. I believe that is why the Train sought me first.”

“Because you knew to heed the stars?”

“I knew to heed them, and you knew to heed me. Their light leads us in the dark—and I'm always as noble as you need me be.”

“Don't say that, Gryphon.” Alice's tone was hushed, but reprimanding. “You're the strongest one of us all, we all know that. What was all that before about your pride?”

“Pride in the hands of the experienced makes one better aware of they need to be prideful of. I'm a leader, Alice, but in the grand scheme, I'm no true hero.”

Gryphon nudged the flat end of his beak into Alice's shoulder. “That has always been your calling.”

Alice's troubled expression didn't leave her, but she gave Gryphon a grateful scratch under his chin. “I'm doubtful that I'm what a hero makes. Certainly not as of late, if nothing more. What sort of hero does more harm than good?”

“A great many more than your grasps at innocence may lead you to believe.” And he said this with no intent to raise ire, unlike those of the more feline persuasion, and so Alice let it slide. “And more to the point, don't you remember what I told you before?”

“To do my best. But what if my best isn't good enough?”

“Your best is what is best for us.” He spoke with certainty, as though this fact was as clear as the skies above them. “It doesn't always seem that way at first, as with all changes. But in the depths of our hearts, we know this. Our lives may never be the same—but it is not without just cause.”

Alice was too hardened, too stubborn to cry as she may have needed to, but the stars on her dress flared back to light, burning in intensity. If the sky had been any darker, she may have lit up the night by her feelings alone.

“Alice?”

“...Yes?”

Gryphon pushed his head into her chest, and without pause Alice's slender arms came to wrap around his chin in a silent, meaningful embrace. “I know you don't care—or maybe your frame of mind just has yet to change. But I swear to you, you're safe here now.”

Alice's embrace tightened.

“Take a deep breath, and give it time. You know what is best. You can always do best.”

She breathed, in and out, in and out, so deeply that one might have thought she'd been drowning in air alone. Gryphon felt every upheaval against his head, but dared not move. A commander does not blame or abandon his admiral, even in times of peace, and this was a reprieve only he could give her.

“It will be hard,” she said suddenly, “to believe all this right away. But when a new days dawns on every last bit of Wonderland... then, I think it will be time.”

“You'll know what to do then, I'm sure.” He felt Alice smile into his feathers, and he smiled back in her arms in return. “I'll be here when the time comes. And when it hasn't. Throughout all your days, I'll be here.”

“That's much more a comfort than the Mock Turtle.”

Her wit returned at the most unexpected moment, and Gryphon couldn't help the curt laugh that escaped him. “Isn't that just the way?”

**Author's Note:**

> songs used as inspo for writing this:
> 
> Two of a Kind by GHOST - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=veA5r_VhklA  
> Frame of Mind by Tristam & Braken - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tmD0BfjtXz0
> 
> two very not AMA songs but lmao they fit the theme


End file.
